I had an interesting discussion regarding the benefits of kendo with a friend. Specifically, the attacking mindset, footwork and angles which can be translated to standup fighting while in a low impact setting. I am looking to take a break from clanging shins in muay thai and try something new. Obviously not as practical for self defense but I have the opportunity for some free classes and wondering if its worth the drive. Any feedback appreciated. thanks!

I think you may find the experience frustrating. You spend a lot of time molding your body to best suit the use of the weapon and, yes, the fighting spirit it builds is great but, really, it is hard to reap any benefit from it for other arts because it is so different. Lemme know if I can expand or answer other questions.

My JJJ sensei does kendo, and he trains under a high ranking Kendo practicioner and watching that guy (Shuji Matsushita) is amazing, because it's the Kendo version of watching someone like Rickson Gracie or Floyd Mayweather....everything is just so goddamned easy. There's no excess movement or wasted motion....just him being five steps ahead of you no matter what you try.

It looks cool, but from all accounts I've heard, WAY harder (physically) than it looks.

Walt, for some reason the name sounds familiar. Where is this sensei located? Iaido is like the other side of the kendo coin - where kendo is collaborative and rough, iaido is isolated and graceful - still strenuous, though. Your arms will be killing after two hours of that.

Fighting a high level kendo opponent is insane. They just read your mind. Best way I can describe it - they read your mind (or everything in your body language) and are just tooling you.

Shen, I'd compare kendo to boxing or kickboxing in that it's done in anaerobic bursts like that. So it's quite grueling. Obviously, the challenge at first is getting your body to move the way it has to for this (stance feels absolutely wrong when you start) but they beyond that it is like boxing. Can be as hard as your opponents and teachers make it. You definitely end every practice with your keikogi sopping wet and your bogu (armor) smelling like hockey equipment. I have done, in my experience, kickboxing, judo, mma (strictly amateur) and this, and I'd say it's as difficult as a hard, spirited session of kickboxing or judo. You can end up breathless. Look at this insane shit, this is endurance and fighting spirit training, kakarigeiko:

Another challenge for people in kendo is the art is still dominated by Japanese and Japanese-Americans, even in the U.S., and Koreans. It's pretty cool to be white and be in the minority at an event! But a lot of your kendo peeps started when they were in middle school in Japan, Korea or U.S., so you often feel you're playing catch up. But, kendo spirit is, "So what! Do your best." On the international scene, strongest kendo is Japan, Korea - and the U.S., especially Southern California with all its Japanese-Americans!

Common injuries: luckily, few! Can be hard on knees, but besides that the only ones I hear about are twisted ankles, sometimes tennis elbow or tinnitis (ringing in the ears) and the occasional concussion from falling backwards and landing on the head. Bruises from when someone misses your armor (accident) and you come home with a purple-black splotch or two (the jacket is thick to prevent this but it's still a whomper). Seriously, very low on injuries.

shen, kum=sword in korean, ken=sword in japanese. same chinese characters. do= the way, or some other things.

there is a style of korean sword art called haedong kumdo, which has different rules and length stick from 'kumdo'. based on my limited exposure talking to an exponent and reading articles, they do a lot of cutting tests and forms work, that are more circular in nature than most of the kumdo strikes.

Ogami Itto - Iaido can be performed slowly, BTW! Different schools of thought on it.

I wonder if you might be confusing the stages of Iaido? There is a slow, medium and fast stage within the performance, and overall there is a segue in which the movement is practiced slowly (Keiko), and deliberately for several years. Finally, there's a final stage (Renshu) where the movements may appear slow to the audience and they may be, "except for the actual cutting".

I must say I've watched Kendo matches and demos and talked in email to some practitioners and they all talk about the 60 y.o. Kendoists who can beat the younger guys handily through a combination of reading their moves and correct application of timing, force and distance.

But, it's like anything else - you have a limited amount of time to get 'good' at anything, and there's only so much practice you can do in a day. One must choose carefully - not all methods are worth the time needed to develop them, perhaps.

Oh I know what you mean, jo-ha-kyu, the rhythm of the draw, Definitely get another opinion on iai besides mine because I am a kendo guy that has only dabbled in Muso Shinden Ryu iaido and setei gata iaido. What I was referring to, though, is I have heard different sensei talk about the speed of iai and some are in favor of its being quite slow and some prefer a bit faster and "live."

Widespread, you hit on something that always occurs to me when this comes up and even came up in this thread - when you commit to kendo you give up time to train in other MA and, I think, what you develop in kendo isn't very translatable. Explosive power, endurance, energy, sure, but the footwork and handwork is really specific to this art/sport. I wouldn't say it even translates into good stick fighting habits, myself.

My two bits...
I've done TKD, kendo, HKD, judo, and arnis.
To me, Kendo was harder than all of them.
Mostly, you use such a special set of muscles (forearms and calves) so intensely, I was literally crippled most of the time. When I did start to get accustomed to the routine, my limbs looked just like Popeye's.
All the skin on my palms and the soles of my feet blistered and peeled off, SEVERAL TIMES.

Also, the discrepancy in skill level between me and the instructors was unbeliveable. In judo, I could occassionally surprise a BB with some cool move and gain a tiny bit of ground. In HKD, every once in a while, I could muster up an un-telegraphed kick and get my one lucky hit in.
In kendo, NOTHING. I was beaten before I even picked up the shinai. My teachers could tool me over and over without moving more than a foot, never breaking a sweat, and never getting hit. It was an unbelievable excercise in frustration.

I wanted to thank you guys for the insight. Sorry I dont make it on here that often so i just now read your posts. I started about a month ago and am blown away. Ive been doing BJJ for about 12 years now and muay thai/judo on and off for about three and this is much more difficult to learn.

Im already realizing i will never be able to devote the time needed to improve a significant degree because of BJJ but the two days a week has contributed many benefits to where i will stick with it.

The focus required has already transalted to my BJJ game without me even realizing it. ive been told by some of my BJJ friends that my game is much more aggressive and i atribute it to the mental focus ive been cultivating over the last month. the mental part of competition in BJJ has always been my achilles heel and this is just what i needed. plus my body has become accustomed to the rigors of BJJ so this has been a shock to my system. Im more sore now than ive been in a while. Im officially hooked!

My friends who were born into an eskrima family take kendo to supplement. Though they've beaten some kendoka themselves, there's a reason why they stick with kendo in addition to what they already have.

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